News Briefs, part 2

Postmaster Reaffirms 6-Day Mail

Postmaster General Marvin T. Runyon moved Thursday to curb speculation that
he might seek a cut in residential mail service, declaring he "remains
committed to six-day delivery."

Runyon had raised the possibility of reducing residential deliveries to
four days a week during a meeting Wednesday with Washington Post reporters
and editors. Although he gave no indication that he was about to seek such
a reduction, Runyon's comments brought a flood of questions to Postal
Service headquarters.

In a press release Thursday, Runyon explained that his comments "were
designed to show that he is asking postal management to explore every
program or process in terms of customer improvement and cost savings."

The Postal Service, which is in the midst of a Runyon-ordered
reorganization, said his request for a study of the possibility of
eliminating residential deliveries on Tuesdays and Thursdays was not a
request for "a formal cost study, nor did he place any urgency on the
request."

In an appearance before an advisory committee composed of mailers, Runyon
declared he was committed to improving "every level of service -- from the
availability of residential collection boxes to increased service for
small-and medium-sized business."

Infectious Diseases Pose Serious U.S. Threat, Panel Warns

Los Angeles Times

Washington

The emergence of new infectious diseases and the reappearance of old
scourges such as tuberculosis and malaria pose a serious public health
threat that the United States is ill-prepared to address, an expert panel
of the Institute of Medicine warned Thursday.

"This much is certain: We have to come to terms with the fact that the
microbial world is in competition with us," said Joshua Lederberg,
professor at Rockefeller University, who served as co-chairman of the
panel. "... It is rapidly evolving at our expense, and ... we haven't
applied the knowledge we have to the extent we should to give us the level
of security we deserve."

The group attributed the problem to an era of complacency dating back to
the late 1950s, when many public health officials began to believe that the
war on infectious diseases had been won, and shifted their attention to
more chronic, degenerative diseases.

But in fact, "infectious microbes have been around all along" and will
continue to create public health crises, the panel said in its report.

"We can also be confident that new diseases will emerge, although it is
impossible to predict their individual emergence in time and place," the
report said.

The institute is part of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, a
congressionally chartered, private organization which advises the federal
government on matters of science and technology. It typically wields
considerable influence with policy-makers.

The panel cited numerous prominent examples, including the current AIDS
epidemic that is raging "virtually everywhere," multidrug-resistant
tuberculosis, which has broken out in frightening proportions in several
U.S. cities, Lyme disease, which is transmitted through the bite of a tick
and is afflicting "more and more people every year," a recent cholera
epidemic in Peru that is moving northward, and malaria in Africa, Asia and
South America.

Democrats Seek Investigation in Iraqi Loan Scandal

Los Angeles Times

Washington

Responding to new evidence in a sensitive Iraqi loan scandal, Democrats on
the House Judiciary Committee Thursday formally sought an independent
counsel to investigate whether Bush administration officials broke the law
in trying to conceal prewar relations with Baghdad.

In the Senate, Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del.,
said he expected Democrats on his panel to vote for a similar request by
Monday. The twin demands sharply expand the controversy over the
administration's secret ties to Iraq which began emerging months ago.

Attorney General William P. Barr responded to a similar congressional
request in August with a resounding and detailed rejection. But, confronted
by new questions about the roles of the Department of Justice and the CIA
in withholding intelligence files from a federal judge, Barr said Thursday
that he had not ruled out any options.

"Obviously, the independent counsel statute is something we will consider
to make sure this is actively investigated," Barr said in an interview. "My
interest is to clear the air. The department has nothing to hide. If there
is any wrongdoing by anyone, we want to get to the bottom of it."

Biden told reporters after talking to Barr that he thought it possible the
attorney general would change his mind and seek an independent counsel.
Republicans, however, were skeptical of the renewed request, which came
less than three weeks before the presidential election.

The House request, signed by 18 of the 21 Democrats on the Judiciary
Committee, added to the pressure on the Department of Justice, which was
accused earlier this week of trying to stifle an FBI inquiry into its role
in the Iraqi loan case by leaking word that FBI Director William S.
Sessions was the subject of ethics and criminal investigations.

On Thursday, Sessions refused to undergo questioning by Department of
Justice attorneys investigating whether he abused government telephones and
provided conflicting accounts about his tax status. His lawyer demanded the
postponement because of news leaks and because he said that the department
has not provided Sessions specifics about the actions under investigation.

However, a Department of Justice source claimed that Sessions was being
treated more favorably than "any other FBI employee" by being provided with
copies of two letters containing the allegations.